DOT vs. Novelty

I have a question for anyone interested in answering. How many of you wear a "novelty" helmet? Do you feel safe enough wearing one? Why do you wear a non-DOT?

I'm not in any way asking this question to incite an internet riot or anything of the sort. Honestly, I'm just trying to decide if I'm going to stick with my current DOT helmet that makes me look and feel like one of those bobble head dolls.

Thanks in advance,
Beardking.

 

Individual's choice mate,at the end of the day we're all different so it dont matter so long as a non-DOT or a DOT stays in one piece when u need it to.

 

Saved me alot of typing ferret2.

 

I wear a DOT helmet, but I'm sure some would question why I avoid SNELL helmets...

 

DOT indicates a minimum standard for impact test. I choose to wear a $400 because my head is worth at least that much (much, much more really). If your head is worth $5, buy a $5 helmet. To each his own. If you are unhappy with your current model, you might look at some of the newer units out there. Astetics should play a secondary role in your selection. Just some thoughts.

 

I definetly would.

I always wear Snell approved helmets.

There's just too much cheap crap out there, and if there's no guidelines to hold to, why wouldn't some cheap knock-off Chinese company make helmets that fall apart when they hit the ground? The worst part about it, is you're not gonna know till you take that fall. I don't want to be a test dummy for a cheap-o helmet.

 

Drop an egg on the ground.

Wrap an egg in tin foil and drop it on the ground.

Wrap an egg in layers of bubble wrap and tape, and then drop it on the ground.

Makes sense to me. Besides, if my brain got scrambled how could I fight against the aliens?

 

What happens is , FIRST they scramble the brain , then fit a helmet .
Then the "impression" one fights them as one knows what/who they are=The innocent..
The subconcious No Fear impression. :idea:

Joke lightly with a Non Joker.

 

Well, luckily not long after I posted this question, I actually found a couple of DOT helmets that I do like the looks of. I know safety is the main concern, but it's a lot safer to have a helmet that looks good and I'll wear rather than one that I can't stand and won't wear. Now if I could just find some place local to look at the DOT helmets that I found and like, I'll be doing good.

 

Oh and just for reference - Snell helmets are a waste of money for motorcyclists. They're not designed to resist the type of impacts that a motorcyclist would encounter in an accident -- they're tested to a standard that evolved from the car racing community - thus they test for much different impacts and forces.

Recently, Motorcyclist magazine in the US ran a comparison of DOT, Snell, and European code helmets. They found that for riders, the European helmets were tied with DOT helmets for best protection, with Snell helmets actually transferring MUCH more g forces to the head. I'll see if I can dig up my copy of the article....

 

I read that article, and the ensuing debate back and forth between the magazine and Snell...

I don't know what to think of it - although - I do know that to race here I need to wear a snell helmet. I wear a snell 2001? helmet for the most part... nice construction, also DOT approved...

I'll be buying a new snell helmet this year likely to meet the new track requirement of snell2007. I figure if that's what they race in, it can't be too bad... then again you can get cheaper and more expensive dot/snell helmets. Sometimes cost is for name/graphics, and other times it's because it really is a better helmet.

 

The Massachusetts Mandatory Helmet Law is silly joke. In Mass we cannot operate a motorcycle without wearing "A Helmet."

You should see some of the things that "Pass" for abiding by this law.

There's the little Skull-Cap model, preferred by most of the HOG-sters ... just a fiberglass disc and elastic strap. Protection offered: None!

During the heat wave; Bell bicycle helmets were a big thing. Looked as dumb as it sounds!

From my driveway to the New Hampshire State Line its about 3-miles.
My New Hampshire friends can't come into Massachusetts without wearing a helmet ... but, a Massachusetts rider can ride to the State Line ... stop ... and remove their helmet while touring the twisting and turning roads of New Hampshire.

I wear a new Shoei. My old one took such a severe beating when I low-sided the 900 a few years ago ... I wouldn't be sitting here typing if I weren't wearing it.

A squirrel did me in. It darted across the road as I was making a sweeping right-hander. The front wheel caught squirrel ... and me and the bike went out different ways.

The helmet looked like someone threw it in front of an express train. I can remember the sound of the impacts of my head inside that helmet as I was tumbling down the road.

A novelty helmet? No way!

There's no novelty caskets.

 

Snell has a different safety test for cars then they do for motorcycles from what I've been told. Thier car racing helmets are "SN" rated, the motorcycles are "M" rated. The year comes after the letters, for example, the helmet I wear is an older one. Has a DOT stamp, and a Snell "M95" stamp, because it met the snell ratings of 1995. They typically update every 5 years.

 

All ya gotta do is tell me to "quit" about helmets and i will , remember Wayne Gardner , past aust racer dude , remember the dude that died when wayne's bike struck right on his helmet as he was lying on the track? just out of a corner , kaput and with helmet! @ least it was quick , wayne changed after that.

 

There are two sides to every story - go ahead and tell people your side of the helmet debate... we've already agreed to disagree on this one, but that's only taken a year or so to arrive at

 

Well, the reason is the article that others have mentioned. (Here's a link if you're interested...) Sounds to me as if DOT standards protect your head, while SNELL standards do more to protect the helmet than to protect your head. I don't care if the helmet stays in one peice after a wreck, I'm more interested in my head...

 

Really. If you can't get a good helmet argument going on a motorcycle site anymore, what's the point? :lol:

 

oh... I've participated in all of them here...

I guess I've just put HooNz in a special group of people who has made their mind up and are as stuborn as myself... just that HooNz is on the opposite side of this one.

We haven't argued about octane or oil additives lately either?

 

Surely he would have lived had he NOT been wearing a helmet, right? :roll:

 

hi,people,
looked at the different view points and i've a couple of questions?
minimum standards on impact tests are fine except the brain is suspended in fluid ,so skull and helmet impact curb at say 30mph, fine helmet stays together, skull well prob tougher than the helmet,who knows ,but brain, he keeps going at thirty into side of skull, not good, so do the testers actually wear the helmets in these tests?
2nd question is how do you standardise a motorcycle accident to give standard tests
keep it going everyone its good to talk

 

Ferret,
From what I've read up on the DOT testing, they are testing for the amount of G-force from an impact that gets transferred through the helmet, into your head. The padding inside the helmet is supposed to absorb a certain amount of the G-force so that what is felt inside the helmet isn't as high as you would receive if there were no padding at all. As for whether they wear the helmets, I doubt that seriously. From what I've seen on different shows where they are testing the effects of impacts on different object, they typically have a high tech little gizmo that is inserted inside the object that measures the amount of transferred energy.

 

Good read on that helmet article, thanks for the link! Didn't read every word, but there's some good stuff in there. Here's a quick quote from the "Hurt" report:

 

Beardking,hello nice to meet u,
was,nt being serious about the testers wearing the helmets,
what time is it there?

 

Ferret, didn't figure you were serious, but you never know. ;-) It's 2:30 PM here right now. You? Where is Kent in regards to London?

 

Just to add to the fire: what about full-face?

I saw an article, which I can't remember where (sorry), that showed stastically where you were most likely to get smacked in the head when you went down. In other words - when you crash, what is the most likely spot on your head to get hit.

The lower face was the highest percentage. This doesn't mean you have the greatest change of getting hit in the face, but rather, that it has the highest number of hits compared to other spots on the head. Confusing, I know.

This makes sense to me, we are travelling forward sitting upright. If you rotate forward from that position, like when your motorcycle stops, but you don't, you hit your chin on the ground! I guess that we also turn to face the direction we fall to catch ourselves also. This would result in more chin music.

Moral of the story, full face helmet for me only, please! I like my teeth and face. My wife tells me I am handsome as I am. Sweet lady.

 

Beardking
on the border mate Kent is right next to it i live 30mls s.e. from the outskirts 50mls s.e. from the center if you've got google earth its a good way to see it when i go broadband i'll stick a pin up

 

Full face is good last time i slid down the road i could'nt see out the visorr

 

I'm in the full-face category too -- the one and only time I went down, guess what part hit the pavement first? Chinguard - you got it.... Forehead and side took a couple of dings too, but the chinguard took that first hit.
Translation:
With full-face, picked myself up, rode the bike to the hospital to have the little bit of road rash taken care of, rode home to fix the bike.
Without full-face? Suspect broken jaw, rather unpleasant facial road rash, and the other injuries - seriously doubt I would have driven to the hospital myself.

 

I've had the unpleasant privilege of viewing an individual who survived a skid down the pavement face first without any protection. He'll be eating with a straw the rest of his life and I'll lay serious odds his private life will be non existent the rest of his days. Not worth it, just protect yourself as best you can. What you have to spend is irrelevant, what you save is priceless!

 

I wear a full face as well, although it's one of those flip up types. I wonder how much I'm compromising with it rather than using a regular full face...

 

I went over the handlebars in my teens, was wearing a regular dot approved helmet, not full face... was on a gravel road, slid on my chest for quit a way before stopping, hole thru lower lip, three loose teeth ( grew back in okay ), hurt my leg and pride, spit gravel out for quite a while, was darn lucky I think.

I haven't been on a bike since mid to late 70's and this go round I've purchased a Shoei full face helmet, and an amored Joe Rocket jacket. Pants and boots will come later.

Now if only I can get the bike finished........

 

I'm embarrassed to say I still haven't done anything in the pants department. Er...bike-wise, anyway.

 

amen to that!

 

Well, I field tested the helmet today, and I'm quite satified with the results. It looks horrible, but the head was completely protected, even through multiple bounces against the asphalt. The T-shirt and jeans didn't fare as well, though, with road rash on both arms and one knee. The new bike doesn't look quite so new any more....

Ah, life.

 

You didn't have to go to all that trouble just for us.

 

Somebody had to find out. :lol:

 

Well, Jazzmoose, I appreciate you taking one for the team. ;-) On top of wrecking, you live in LA. You just get it in the end all the way around, don't ya. ;-)

So, I'm guessing from the general flow of this topic, I'd pretty much be banned from XJbikes if I actually went out and rode either helmetless or with a novelty helmet?

 

I grew up riding and racing dirt bikes since I was about seven years old and come to think of it pretty much every wreck ended up with me doing a face plant, thank god for my full face helmet..For some stupid reason I cant just ride like a normal person I have to be riding wheelies and haulin ass into the corners as fast as possible..I remember countless times comin to all confused with a mouth full of dirt and a splitting headache limpin my bike home trying not to let mom know I wrecked or I wouldnt be able to ride for a couple days if it wasnt for my riding protection I probably would have no teeth or a jaw left at all..

 

Jazz, don't you ever product test that way again, we need you in one piece! Your wit is so much appreciated around here, you better take care of yourself! Glad you aren't really messed up!
Beardking, I doubt if anyone would think to ban you for making a choice. As in most things in life, there are always going to be folks who choose to walk differently than ourselves and we should not be too judgmental of them. Variety makes the world the wonderful place it is and I'm glad you have the choice to make, some places you don't and I don't care to live there! Ride free brother, just remember that we all, collectively, would like you to be safe. Peace.

 

Agreed. While I've met people all over the political spectrum and from all walks of life on bikes, I've yet to meet one that thought less choice was a good idea, or that they thought it would be a really cool idea to let others decide things for them!

 

Sorry to bring up an old topic but I just had to. When I was 12 years old I learned the lesson about not wearing a helmet. My parents bought me a nice shiny honda 3 wheeler and a matching helmet.
I had beeing riding my dirt bike for 4 years at that point and never wore a helmet and while i got banged up every now and then it really never hurt me bad.
Anyway I hated the feel of a helmet and my parents insisted I wear it or they would take the 3 wheeler away. SO I would wear it like a good boy (until I got out of their sight) then off my head it would go and strapped to the grab bar.
One day I midjudged a corner and took a spill down a 50ish ft "landslide" for lack of a better word. Luckily I only rolled tumbled and flipped about 30 ft before this nice big oak tree was kind enough to stop me. I made a good cushion for the 3 wheeler when it hit the tree too.. saved it from beeing beat up too bad.
I broke my arm in 3 spots and completely seperated my arm from my hand at the wrist which sucked but wasnt life threatening. I took 30 staples to the head and damn near bled to death trying to get through the woods the two miles back to my house with blood gushing out of my head not to count the probably 3 or 4 minutes I was laying on the ground unconscience bleeding with absolutely NO pressure on the wound. WHen I came to I took my shirt off and kept it on my head which slowed it down some. Had I not come to as quick as I did or pretty much any other small change in the situation and my life woulda been ended at a short 12 years because I didnt like the feel of a helmet. I personally will ALWAYS wear a helmet on a motorcycle after that. Hopefully others are smarter than I was then and wont learn the hard way. By the time you learn that way it might just be too late. I was given a miracle.. the doctors were amazed that I lived through all of that and looking back so am I. Then it didnt seem nearly as serious as it does now that Im old enough and smart enough to comprehend it.

 

this is an interesting topic and one ive pondered, I grew up in MA, (hey Rick, i even lived in Billerica for a while) living in MA really makes you love NH does'nt it? ....anyway, I still have my old beany (AKA "cheater"), after I moved to FL our law was modified to allow "choice", I happily rode as a topless free spirit for a good long time and just recently decided to make it my "choice" to wear a nice well made DOT half shell or a snell approved FF depending on conditions, I have'nt yet tossed my beany but wearing it and expecting it to be anything more than a decoration is out. those beanies are just for skating by the fuzz, if you want protection buy a good helmet, make sure it fits and wear it, and if your state allows choice be thankful and be an adult, make a choice, and enjoy your self.

"So, I'm guessing from the general flow of this topic, I'd pretty much be banned from XJbikes if I actually went out and rode either helmetless or with a novelty helmet?"

I would be disappointed if I got that vibe, when I see someone riding with no helmet here in FL i dont think he/she is stupid, just making a choice, like choosing to ride instead of taking the car, I really do think wearing a beany and expecting it to offer any protection except for sun blocking is not realistic, I also think its stupid when (almost daily) I see guys on a crotch rockets riding in city traffic with a ball cap on and a nice color-matched $400 helmet just hanging on the back of the bike.... but hey, its their choice...a point i alway make is that we need to separate the two helmet issues. whether you should wear one (of course you should), thats one issue, and whether it needs to be regulated is another, im still VERY pro choice and im glad to able to make mine.

 

Yes, it is still a choice. I, for one, will not ride without a FF helmet (DOT/Snell) and I feel naked & vulnerable on those 98-degree days without leather- I'd rather be sweaty & uncomfortable than screaming bloody murder in the burn/skin graft ward......but that's my choice. It doesn't have to be yours. Riding is a calculated risk any way you look at it. I choose to skew the odds slightly in my favor. But that's me.

 

Finially a subject worthy of discussion.

I choose to wear my Shoei FF Helmet even on the hot days!!
I have been known to just ride down to the corner store or about 1 mile or less.
I do know most accidents happen within a mile of home.... so they say.

I guess I need a little danger in life so I know I am still alive.

Never said age caused wisdom!!

I had a friend who rode a hog and he hit an elk, it came down on his head and he was a veg for about a year after that. Sure, he wasn't feeling it but his family was. He finially died but not before his family was financially ruined.
Had he had his helmet on the weight of the elk might not have crushed his skull!!??? Maybe he would have broke his neck!!!!???

It's your choice!

 

I think it should be a matter of personal choice, BUT...

There is no way in HELL I'd ever ride without a helmet on, but that's my choice about how I want to protect my head just in case some old lady makes a left turn in front of me giving me about 20 feet at 35 miles an hour to react.

If you think you can react perfectly to any situation while riding and never lay your bike down for any reason AND you don't have any friends or family who will miss you when you're dead or have to care for you in your vegetative state, AND you live in a state that allows it...go without a helmet. More power to you.

I've had bugs hit my face at 60 mph and those suckers hurt...I'd wear a helmet just for that reason alone...

I don't think there should be any helmet laws. People are free to drive race cars, go hang gliding, hiking in the mountains in the winter, bungee jumping, and smoke cigarettes (for now, anyways), not to mention all the other "dangerous" things we love to do in the good ole' USA.

Passing laws to make us safer restricts our freedoms. People should be free to put themselves in danger as much as they want. As long as it doesn't endanger anyone else, then why deny them that choice?

Are you stupid to not wear a helmet? No. Are you stupid to not wear a helmet if you have a wife and kids? Yeah. That's stupid. That's my 3 cents worth. :wink:

I had a statement in this post about evolution and stupid people removing themselves from the gene pool, but I edited it out because I didn't want to turn this into some kind of flame war. :roll:

 

That's funny...they always seem to aim for my throat!

 

The throat area hurts... A junebug to the lip is painful, too.

 

My dad got hit in the eyeball by a june bug on our boat at about 55.. needless to say he only has one real eye. The other is a coral thing with a laser covering or some crazy crap.

 

Just on the topic of Dot approved or not, I work at an auto parts store, and we recently were given distribution of 'cheap' helmets. We can sell 2 types of full face helmets - both are full face, they have the same design they are identical except for price. When I questioned the sales rep he told me that the company only pays for so much safety testing - So the first 1/2 of the production run gets tested and dot approved and the second 1/2 does not.

NO real point I guess just wanted to put that out there - If the price seems too good to be true maybe it is